Your Right to Know

PHOENIX — Dozens of inmates in Arizona jails run by a sheriff who has been a controversial
figure in the national immigration debate have been put on a diet of bread and water for
desecrating U.S. flags that hang in each cell, authorities said yesterday.

Maricopa County lawman Joe Arpaio, who has been called “America’s toughest sheriff,” said 38
inmates were getting the bare meals twice a day as punishment for destroying government property at
six jails.

“These inmates have destroyed the American flag that was placed in their cells. Tearing them,
writing on them, stepping on them, throwing them in the toilet, trash or wherever they feel,”
Arpaio said in a statement. “It’s a disgrace to those who have fought for our country.”

The punishment will last for seven days, he said, and a second offense would bring 10 more days
of the sparse diet.

A sheriff’s spokesman said the bread provides the daily requirement of calories and nutrients.
There are about 8,300 inmates in the jail system.

In recent months, the Maricopa County jails have broadcast patriotic songs over the public
address systems —
The Star Spangled Banner in the morning and
God Bless America at night.

Arpaio, a six-term sheriff, has come under increased scrutiny and criticism in recent years for
his actions, including a hard-line stance on immigration.

Last week, a court monitor was appointed to oversee operations at Arpaio’s office after a
federal judge found in May that the sheriff’s deputies had racially profiled Latino drivers. That
ruling came in response to a lawsuit that tested whether police could target unauthorized
immigrants without profiling U.S. citizens and legal residents of Hispanic origin.

Arpaio, who is facing a lawsuit and investigation from the U.S. Justice Department accusing him
of civil-rights abuses, strongly denies that he or his officers profile Latinos.

Under a portion of a controversial Arizona immigration law that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme
Court, police in the state may ask people they stop about their immigration status.